Homeless Solutions Forum

Working to Ensure Every Angeleno has a Place to Call Home: Homeless Solutions Forum

Join us as explore this critical issue facing our communities, and discover what’s working and what isn’t. Learn how the city and county of LA are working with partners to ensure that every resident has a place to call home, and find out how you can help.

Like many other urban areas in the U.S., Los Angeles has been grappling with a serious homelessness crisis: about 50,000 people are homeless on a given night, and more than 39,000 lack shelter. In fact, LA County has the second-highest number of homeless people in the nation, trailing only New York City. But LA has one of the highest rates of homeless living outdoors, about 75 percent.

Housing costs remain a burden for individuals and families across southern California. As rent and home prices continue to outpace incomes, rental markets tighten, and housing development lags behind population growth, more people are struggling to pay rent or afford their mortgage, and homelessness continues to rise.

In November 2016, LA city residents passed Proposition HHH, a $1.2 billion bond to build approximately 10,000 units of supportive housing in the City of Los Angeles. Five months later (in March 2017), LA County voters resoundingly approved Measure H, the landmark ¼ percent increase to the County’s sales tax to provide an ongoing revenue stream – an estimated $355 million per year for ten years — to fund services, rental subsidies and housing.

The two measures were designed to be complimentary – by taking a comprehensive regional approach to combat homelessness. The package of measures encompasses numerous interconnected strategies and approaches to provide residents with affordable homes that are safe, accessible, and supportive, as well as to prevent and end homelessness among all populations.

Join us as explore this critical issue facing our communities, and discover what’s working and what isn’t. Learn how the city and county of LA are working with partners to ensure that every resident has a place to call home, and find out how you can help.